Complaints & Improvement Specialist

Complaints & Improvement Specialist

Location: Halifax / Hybrid

Department: Customer Experience

Contract type: Permanent / Full-time

About the role

We’re looking for a Complaints & Improvement Specialist to join our Customer Experience Team. The Complaints & Improvement Specialist resolves customer complaints and uses what those complaints reveal to remove the causes. The role carries two responsibilities of equal weight: delivering fair, timely and evidence-based outcomes for individual customers, and identifying the root causes behind recurring failures so that they are corrected at source.

Sitting within Customer Experience, the role is the link between individual cases and the operational change that prevents them recurring. The Specialist investigates and resolves complaints in line with Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) requirements, then analyses complaint, feedback and operational data to identify themes, quantify their impact, and present recommendations to operational teams.

Activate Group is a growing UK business with 1,000+ team members nationwide. This is an exciting opportunity to build a long-term career with a company that values its people and offers genuine development and progression opportunities.

Key responsibilities

Complaint management and resolution

• Manage customer complaints from receipt through to resolution, within FCA Dispute Resolution (DISP) timescales, company procedures and agreed service standards
• Conduct thorough and proportionate investigations, gathering and testing evidence, documentation and accounts from all parties involved.
• Communicate clearly and empathetically with customers throughout the complaint journey, providing regular updates and setting realistic expectations.
• Deliver fair, evidence-based outcomes and proportionate redress that balance customer needs with business objectives.
• Produce high-quality written responses, including final response letters that meet FCA content requirements and set out referral rights to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
• Identify customers in vulnerable circumstances and adapt the approach, timescales and communication accordingly.
• Identify and escalate high-risk, complex, reputational or potential Financial Ombudsman Service cases promptly.
• Manage a personal caseload to time and quality standards, prioritising by customer impact and risk.

Root cause analysis and improvement

• Determine and record the root cause of every complaint at the point of closure.
• Analyse complaint and operational data to identify recurring themes, emerging risks and systemic failures.
• Produce clear findings and actionable recommendations, and present them to operational managers and senior stakeholders.
• Contribute complaint and root cause insight to service reviews, governance forums and customer experience improvement plans.

Stakeholder and work provider management

• Build and maintain effective working relationships with internal departments, repairers, suppliers and work providers.
• Liaise with repairers, suppliers and service partners to obtain information, investigate concerns and progress customer resolutions.
• Challenge and influence stakeholders where necessary so that customer interests are properly represented.
• Coordinate actions across multiple parties to keep resolution on track and within timescale.
• Act as the voice of the customer, advocating for fair outcomes and for the service improvements the evidence supports.
• Support work provider reporting and service reviews with complaint and root cause insight where required.

Governance and compliance

• Ensure all complaint handling activity meets FCA DISP rules, Consumer Duty obligations where applicable, company procedures and customer service standards.
• Maintain accurate, complete and auditable records, case notes and root cause coding.
• Contribute to audits, quality assurance reviews and governance reporting as required.
• Support the development and maintenance of complaint handling processes, templates and best practice guidance.

Skills and experience

• Previous experience handling customer complaints and complex escalations through to resolution.
• Understanding of complaint handling within a regulated environment, including FCA Dispute Resolution (DISP) requirements.
• Strong investigative and problem-solving skills, with the ability to reach balanced, evidence-based decisions.
• Ability to analyse data and identify trends, themes and underlying causes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including the ability to explain a decision clearly and without jargon.
• Experience engaging and influencing internal and external stakeholders, including holding others to account for agreed actions.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage a live caseload alongside longer-term improvement work.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel and PowerPoint, with the ability to build a clear report from raw data.
• Customer-focused mindset and a commitment to achieving fair outcomes.

Benefits

We believe in rewarding our people for the great work they do. When you join Activate Group, you can expect:

• 33 days holiday, including bank holidays
• Personal health cash plan - claim back the cost of everyday healthcare such as dental and optical check-ups
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay
• Life assurance at three times your basic salary
• Free breakfasts and fresh fruit
• A birthday surprise for everyone

What you can expect from us

At Activate Group, we want everyone to have the tools and support they need to do their best work. We’re an innovative business that continuously reviews and improves our systems, processes and ways of working, making sure they support our teams to do their jobs effectively.

Every role at Activate Group is aligned to our wider business vision and purpose - making someone’s bad day better. You’ll understand how your role contributes to the bigger picture and how your work helps deliver excellent outcomes for customer and partners.

We believe work should be enjoyable. We make time to celebrate success, recognise achievements and bring people together at team events and company-wide celebrations. We’ll also support your ongoing development through regular feedback and career planning.

Whether you’re based in one of our contact centres in Halifax, Peterborough or Huddersfield, working at an Activate Accident Repair (AAR) site, or working from home, you’ll be part of a supportive culture where people are encouraged to succeed.

A bit about us

Activate Group is a fast-growing business approaching 1,000 team members nationwide.

We work with some of the UK’s largest fleets and insurance companies, supporting drivers that have been involved in road incidents through our contact centres in Halifax, Peterborough and Huddersfield.

We manage every step of the repair journey - repairing vehicles at our own Activate Accident Repair (AAR) body shops, as well as through a UK-wide network of trusted independent repair partners.

We also work with the UK’s largest vehicle manufacturers, supporting their approved repair programmes, and deliver innovative technology solutions to fleets, vehicle repair centres and dealerships.

Our purpose & values

Our purpose underpins everything we do: Make someone’s bad day better

Our values define how we work with our team members, customers and suppliers:

• Make it happen - Be accountable. Take the initiative, work fast, and do a great job.
• Strive for better - Be bold. Challenge the norm - make small improvements often.
• Win together - Be a team player. Win together, learn together, respect each other.